Before the Clock Strikes
by Teh Rave
Summary: It's New Year's Eve, and Seto is alone. Can he tell the person he loves how he feels before he clock strikes midnight? YamixRyou, BakuraxOtogi, MarikxShizuka, implied BakuraxMalik, and Setox?


Rave: I couldn't help myself; this was begging to be written. ::sighs:: I love this one shot, and I'm proud of how it turned out.

Seto: remember that you own nothing..

Rave: but it's NEW YEARS! ::pouts:: fine. I don't own anything. Nada. Nande. Nein. Ya hear? On with it!!

**Title: **Before the Clock Strikes

**Rating: **PG-13

**Pairings: **YamixRyou, MarikxShizuka, Setox?, BakuraxOtogi, implied BakuraxMalik

**The question is: **Can you guess who Seto's after before the clock strikes midnight?

**Vocabulary: **

**--**Nani?: what?

--Akimashite Omedetou: Happy New Year!

--minna-san: everyone

--------------------------------

Why did I bother coming here? I know that everyone will be coupled up, and hugging and kissing. Ra, why am I here at Yuugi's New Year's Eve party when I could be at home spending the start of the New Year with Mokuba and Noah?

Because **he**'s here.

I glance over at the couch and see him with Yuugi in his lap. Yes, he has the boy in his lap, and he seems pretty happy. Pretty hot, I might add. The two of them look so close, like they're brothers, but I know better. Yuugi's with him, and I'm not.

I wish people would just leave me alone. Better yet, I wish I could just leave the party. But I can't. The person sitting on the couch across the room from me, laughing with his cluster of friends is my painful reminder of the circumstances that have led me here.

Bakura stumbles down the stairs with Otogi in tow, grinning hellishly.

"I believe a reward is due." He says, eyeing the raven-haired youth hungrily.

Muttering something about beating his lover into submission, Marik gets up and hands Bakura a fistful of bills.

"5,000 yen you greedy bastard."

"You shouldn't place bets you know I can win." The tomb robber smirks.

"You should also give Bakura credit- he knows what he's doing." Otogi purrs, trailing a hand down the front of Bakura's chest. The boy regards him doubtfully, but sneers.

"Guess I'm not the only one who thinks so, hm, Marik?"

"I bet you you couldn't bed that fool in five minutes, and it took you fifteen. So be grateful I gave you any money." Marik scoffs, sitting down. Shizuka rests her head against his shoulder as Marik puts an arm around his girlfriend. Bakura sits down where he is on the stairs, pulling Otogi into a rough kiss on the way down.

"Is it my fault he wanted seconds?"

Many snickers echoed around the room.

"So you're lovers now?" Yami quipped, idly playing with a lock of Ryou's hair.

"Who said we weren't in the first place?" Otogi said, his voice laced with mock-disbelief. Marik's eyes widened.

"What?!" He glares at Bakura, who gives him an equally withering look. "You..backstabbing son of a bitch! My yami is your lover.."

"You only assumed, you didn't know anything. And apparently your yami is delusional in thinking that we are still together; he hasn't gotten any from me in months." Bakura chuckles, baring sharp teeth.

"More info than we wanted to know." Varon whines. I shrug, sipping at the wine again. Yuugi abandons his seat and comes over to me. Oh joy. I'm so eager to join them, I'll fall over in a second.

On second thought, leave me out of this one.

"Kaiba? Why don't you come sit closer with the rest of us? We're starting another round of drinks soon." He asks. I can sense that he's already slightly tipsy; he's already had several beers. Then again, Yuugi is a heavy drinker. Despite how innocent he looks, he's been in loads of trouble these past few years. He used to smoke pot, and slept around with many other guys besides his boyfriend (when him and Yami were still together). Also, from what I've heard, he's developed a bit of an attitude during the time I've known him.

I look over at the party centered around the coffee table, and there **he** is. He sees me, and graces me with a smile. It's small and short-lived, but at that moment it meant so much to me. I get up, putting my now-empty wine glass aside.

Dare I sit near the object of my affection? Can I? Could I? I heavily place myself on the floor closer to the TV screen next to Amelda. Of course I can't help noticing who Yuugi sits next to on the couch with Shizuka and Marik. With a small bottle of whiskey in his hand, Yuugi stands up. The rooms goes silent; everyone expects him to make an announcement.

"It's almost ten, which means we have a few hours till the ball drops." He says. Mostly everyone cheers except for Marik and Shizuka, who are both in a heated make out session. I put a fake smile on, and cheer with everyone else. Out the corner of my eye, I catch the person I hoped would notice looking directly at me. That grin is all it takes for me to settle down and listen to Yuugi. "We're taking a vote for what movie we wanna see. Who's for 'The Ring'?"

Three people raise their hands.

"Bakura-kun, you only like that movie because it's called 'The Ring'"

"And so what if I do? I just enjoy hearing Naomi Watts scream and beg for mercy, and that other guy cry out in pain. It's what I like about horror films." Bakura coolly replied, fingering Otogi's dice earring absently. Marik sighs. Shizuka giggles, causing her boyfriend to lose his balance.

"If it was called 'The Rod', you wouldn't like it." She says cannily. Marik stifles his laughter as the King of Thieves shoots him a deathly glare.

"Then it would most likely be a #### video. But I would enjoy it just the same, if not more."

I, along with the rest of the group, had trouble containing our amusement. Bakura, the sadist, into ####? A laugh. I was surprised to find myself laughing with the others. Maybe that third Guinness was a bad idea. It's always the third one that gets me acting up. I felt bold enough to speak, with forced constraint.

"I thought you were gay. They don't usually make that kind of #### for people like you.." I say confidently, sneaking a look at my unrequited love. Bakura is taken aback, but seems to consider the notion.

"I'm not gay, I keep all my options open."

"So you're bi?" I suggest. The Tomb Robber nods.

"Right." Yuugi shakes his head slowly. "So, who wants to see 'Love Actually'?"

Blank stares. I know what the movie is, but I hate it. All romantic-comedies do for me is press the fact that I'm single and a virgin. Yes, that's right. I'm a virgin, and nobody else knows. That's how it's going to stay too.

" 'Jaws' 'Grave Secrets' or shall I pop in a random tape and we'll see what it is? "

" 'Grave Secrets'? What's that? Sounds creepy." Shizuka says, burying her face into Marik's shirt. Yuugi nods.

"It's scary." He agrees lowly. Almost everyone raises their hands. I follow suit; anything better than a romance. "Well.." he says, looking around the room, " 'Grave Secrets' gets it."

--Much later…--

"Don't touch them!" The woman screamed, throwing a blanket over the deformed kittens. The little girl tried to pry the mother cat away.

"NO! GINGER'S BABIES!!"

Gasps and stifled screams emerge from our group. In the silence that followed, I can hear moaning. Judging from the moans, my guess would be that Marik has resumed a game of tonsil-hockey with his girlfriend. I shudder in disgust at the image in my mind, and divert my attentions back to the movie. Thank Ra it's almost over…well, it seems like it should be over soon anyhow. In the middle of my internal griping and complaining, I feel a hand putting pressure on my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that Ra has blessed me once more tonight; **he** is sitting next to me.

"Sorry. They were getting annoying back there." The voice in my ear mutters, referring to the couple sitting on the back couch with Yuugi. I almost jump up off the floor, but I manage to keep my composure, and turn my head so I cans still see the TV screen, but I can also check out the boy next to me. He whispered to me. In.My.Ear. He's THAT close to me. If I moved right a mere four inches, I would be sitting in his lap.

Be strong, Seto. Take it like a man.

Yeah right, the boy you've loved for so long is sitting next to you, and you can take it. Try keeping your cool against raging hormones and one too many drinks. It took every ounce of willpower I had to not take his hand in mine, as his hand had never left my shoulder. My mind was anxious, but downstairs I was happy.

Control yourself; you'll get to him eventually.

Sure. If he ever left Yuugi and came after me, the Ice Cube. And I've got an ice cube's chance in hell of my love ever returning my feelings. And yes, I meant that as a pun. Pathetic, Seto. How pathetic.

I spend the rest of the movie pondering feelings like this, all the while trying to gather the nerve to move closer to **him**.

When it ends, I am glad for light in the room.

Then again, maybe not.

The darkness had concealed many things; among them being Yami and Ryou being "adventurous". Ryou sat in front of Yami, who had his pants unzipped, with his shirt un-tucked. I soon found out why. They had apparently 'had' each other during the movie. Ryou looked very guilty, but Yami looked down at his smiling lover, and kissed the top of his head.

Otogi and Bakura are lying under the table, half-asleep. One of Otogi's arms is flung across Bakura protectively. His lover squints up at the table above him and grimaces.

"Thank Ra it's over!" He growls, rolling out of Otogi's grasp, out from under the table.

The grinning boy next to me stretches and sighs.

"Good movie, now I've got the munchies."

"Well since you've brought it up, you can go get food yourself." Amelda says lazily. He checks his watch. "Better hurry back though; the ball's gonna drop soon."

"Lazy-ass." My love says under his breath, pulling himself up. I see two long legs walk off in search of a kitchen. Without really knowing what I'm doing, I follow him down the hall.

"Five minutes till midnight!" Ryou calls out.

In the harshly-lit kitchen, a bag of popcorn is being put into the microwave. I tap my fingers against the counter while taking the opportunity to admire his ass from behind. He turns around, fixing those gorgeous soul-penetrating eyes on me. I immediately feign interest in a minuscule crumb on the countertop. My heart quickens.

"You hungry too?"

I nod without anything smart or sarcastic to lash back with.

Yeah. Hungry for you.

Minutes pass, and I can hear shouts and giggles from the living room. However, it seems like it's taking forever for the microwave bell to ring. I grunt in annoyance at the noise. He looks over at me curiously. I shrug.

"Heh. You can't expect less from horny couples on New Year's Eve." I say nonchalantly.

"Not everyone's coupled up." He points out. "You're not with someone."

I flush crimson, and go even redder when I feel his eyes on me yet again.

"Shut up. Don't antagonise me because you're with Yuugi."

He stares at me in disbelief. I stare back, but my insides turn to ice. I smirk to shake off that all-too-familiar feeling. He says

"I'm not with Yuugi. When have we ever been together?"

I continue to stare in shock. I can't believe this.

"Nani?!" I exclaim in surprise. "Say that again?"

Now it's his turn to smirk.

"I'm not dating anyone, and when it comes to Yuugi, he and I are only friends. I can't imagine how I could sleep with someone who gets around as much as he does."

I nearly choke on my words; I can't think of what to say. Here was what should be my moment of triumph, and I couldn't tell him how I felt? "What's it to ya anyway? If you thought everyone was gonna be coupled up, and you felt left out, why did you come anyway?"

I wasn't expecting that question, but I knew how to answer it.

"Twenty! Nineteen! Eighteen! Seventeen!…" A chorus of voices yells from the living room. With the bowl of popcorn in his hand, my love turns to leave. I grab his arm.

"Wait! I'll tell you why I'm here." I call out. When he turns around, I press my lips against his. He makes no effort to leave, but I break the kiss and walk away with my head lowered.

"Twelve! Eleven! Ten! Nine Eight! Seven! Six!.."

He grabs my hand, and pulls me to him.

"I thought you'd never tell me." He says with a grin and, throwing the popcorn bowl onto the floor, pulls me into the deep passionate kiss that I have craved for so long.

"Four! Three! Two.."

He looks deep into my eyes, and says happily. "Aishiteru, Seto."

"One!"

"Aishiteru, Jonouchi."

**END**

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Rave: Akimashite Omedetou minna-san! ::throws confetti::


End file.
